Dr. Rita Esuru Okoroafor is currently an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University, USA, with an impressive academic background that combines an M.Sc. Petroleum Engineering and Project Development from the Institute of Petroleum Studies (a collaboration between IFP School France and the University of Port Harcourt) with a PhD in Energy Resources Engineering from Stanford University. 

Dr. Okoroafor is passionate about low-carbon energy technologies, and her current research and teaching involve using petroleum industry skills, strategies, and techniques to solve climate change challenges for adaptation and resilience with a focus on the deployment of low-carbon energy technologies. She holds unique abilities to develop and implement rigorous, interdisciplinary site selection criteria for carbon dioxide sequestration and underground energy storage. In addition, she investigates optimal methodologies for harnessing and utilizing geothermal energy. For this reason, her current role as an Advisor in Low Carbon Technologies is bringing tremendous value to ACBA’s work in providing innovation and adaptability when it comes to achieving a Sustainable Energy Market in Africa and the world.  

Dr. Okoroafor has 15 years of oil and gas industry experience with extensive knowledge about fields in the Gulf of Guinea. She gained recognition as a Principal Reservoir Engineer following her use of reservoir engineering skills to support different product lines and locations in production engineering, petrophysics, data acquisition, and drilling operations worldwide. She also has experience in the development of single-well reservoir modeling software and has aided operators in creating novel reservoir management workflows using SLB’s Petroleum Engineering software. 

Okoroafor is a recipient of the SPE Africa Region Reservoir Dynamics and Description Award (2017), SPE Young Member Outstanding Service Award (2016), and SPE Africa Region Young Member Outstanding Service Award (2014). Additionally, she has authored several technical papers, owns two patents, and is the author of the fiction novels entitled “Against The Perfect Will” and “Morning Does Come”.